1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the art of tabletop sporting games and more particularly pertains to a tabletop sporting game that utilizes a ball, which is pushed or slid across a tabletop game hoard or field in order to place the ball at a desired location. The tabletop game field includes multiple levers, each one of the levers communicating with a man game piece, whereby when the lever is depressed, the man game piece is forced up through an opening in the game board or field surface in order to block, lift or otherwise alter the path of the sliding ball.
2. Description of Related Art
Various games require application of a player's skill in determining the relative effects of inertia and friction to place a sliding puck or game piece at a predetermined location. Most of these games require either a fixed court or an extremely large non-portable table, which restricts the play of such inertia/friction games to a fixed location. Because they are not portable, they are generally not useful for play during unexpected leisure time.
In addition, sporting games such as football, soccer and hockey, while extremely popular, can normally not be played inside because of the size of the field required. Football, for example requires a 100-yard field and a relatively large leather football. Because of these play restrictions due to the size of the required playing field, various types of tabletop simulated football games have been known in the art. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,888 provides a thumb football game and apparatus, which pertains to a tabletop football game in which a simulated football is thumped by the finger of a player on a tabletop simulated football field. U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,865 provides an amusement game with a simulated playing field and a toy football made of soft material.
These tabletop games, although portable and generally fun to play, fail to provide a true-to-life game experience, which game experience includes the ire of the coach, the exuberance of a player and the anticipation of a fan all rolled into one.
The apparatus for a tabletop sporting game of the present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art and provides a portable gaming apparatus which includes both offensive and defensive structural components in order to provide a true-to-life gaming experience for the player of the tabletop sporting game apparatus.